He apparently tried to protect his Gran with guts and drive. Now if only his uncle had been permitted to own something that would make a 16 year old boy and a 70 year old grandmother the fighting equal of two armed criminals in their 20’s. Something that said “Colt,” or “Smith and Wesson,” or “Mossberg” on the side.

This is the real face of gun control. It doesn’t actually control guns, and it certainly doesn’t control the sort of thugs who would beat up a 70 year old granny, a 44 year old man, and his 16 year old nephew.

I’ve worn a kilt. I am a member of a historical re-enactment organization, I am half Scottish (on my mother’s side) and I’m not a bit afraid to “not-so-surreptitiously air [my] junk out in public.” However, I think Utilikilts are about as stupid as can be.

I’ve worn the military uniforms of two US services. I’ve worn reproduction medieval armor. I’ve worn every type of medieval and renaissance men’s clothing from Viking to Elizabethan. I’m planning a steampunk Pinkerton Detective outfit based upon the clothes worn by Wyatt Earp in Tombstone. So don’t tell me that I’m just too chicken to wear something “unconventional.”

Look at his one criminal conviction. He was convicted in November of last year for “Discharging a firearm into an occupied property, causing serious injury,” a Class E felony. According to the structured sentencing guidelines (PDF) he was supposed to get 20-25 months in prison for a first offense of this magnitude. That sentence could be increased to 25-31 months or mitigated to 15-20 depending upon the circumstances of the crime.

Read the criminal record again and see that what he actually got was 36 months on probation.

The real story here is that pretty much no matter what criminals do, they don’t get punished in this state.